Ronan Farrow, author of the explosive New Yorker article that helped expose decades of alleged sexual assaults and harassment by Harvey Weinstein, is also the son of Woody Allen. For years, Farrow has supported his sister, Dylan, after she accused Allen of sexual assault when she was a child. (Allen has repeatedly denied the allegations.)

I’m not sure any of that colors Allen’s comments to the BBC about the Weinstein situation; all I can say is that I thought of them when I read these words. Asked what he made of the ongoing scandal, Allen replied:

"The whole Harvey Weinstein thing is very sad for everybody involved. Tragic for the poor women that were involved, sad for Harvey that [his] life is so messed up. There's no winners in that, it's just very, very sad and tragic for those poor women that had to go through that."

Allen also said that he hoped any investigation would foster “amelioration” for the victims, but he also added “You also don't want it to lead to a witch hunt atmosphere, a Salem atmosphere, where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself.” The BBC also quoted him saying that “you hope that something like this could be transformed into a benefit for people rather than just a sad or tragic situation."

Allen’s comments come as he is releasing a new movie, Wonder Wheel, which just debuted at the New York Film Festival. (So far, reviews are mixed.) The movie opens in theaters on December 1. I find it hard to believe the ongoing fallout from the Weinstein allegations (and now Allen’s comments about them) won’t be the backdrop of every single conversation about his movie.